By Adriano Marchese
Stocks in Toronto halted their rally of several days midday Friday, with tech and healthcare leading the declines. Wrapping up fourth-quarter earnings for Canada's "Big Six" banks, shares in Bank of Montreal rose after reporting quarterly profit that beat expectations.
Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 0.72% at 20611.57 and the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 was down 0.62% at 1250.04.
Bank of Montreal shares rose 1.7% to C$137.14 after it reported earnings per share of 3.23 Canadian dollars, the equivalent of US$2.52, up from C$2.37 in the comparable quarter a year ago. On an adjusted basis, earnings were C$3.33 a share, beating analyst expectations of C$3.21 a share, according to FactSet.
Other market movers:
Shares in Mission Ready Solutions Inc. soared by 50% to C$0.28 after announcing that its subsidiary, Unifire Inc., was awarded a contract to facilitate delivery of commercial off-the-shelf shelter systems to a U.S. defense agency with a ceiling of up to $200 million.
Canadian Western Bank shares fell by 4.7% to C$35.66 despite reporting a 38% profit rise in the fourth quarter, benefiting from higher revenue.
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-03-21 1216ET
